On the telephone pole outside the wife’s work is an old poster for that ANC rag, The New Age, advertising the headline: RICA CHAOS REIGNS!
The headline conjured images of burning buildings and frothy-mouthed citizens running around fornicating and screaming – a bit like a Rick Astley concert – but for once in South Africa the truth was not stranger than my mind’s fiction.
RICA is, in a nutshell, the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act. It requires anyone with a mobile phone in SA to register their name, number, and address with the government.
This is supposedly not so they can listen in to your phone calls to see if you voted for Helen Zille, but to monitor despicable acts like trafficking child pornography or buying anything from Verimark.
I eagerly await the first court case featuring a parent who’s little rascal has been filming his mates shagging and sending it around, and the phone’s been registered to the mother because the kid didn’t have an electricity bill in his name.
But that is surely still to come, the alleged “chaos” that TNA (that’s what they’re trying to call it) writes about had nothing to do with RICA at all, but was an unknown fault in the Vodacom and MTN network.
RICA, for over two million cellphone users, caused what couldn’t be called more than an annoyance as their phones were cut off and they had to trudge down to their service provider with a bank statement and ID papers.
By TNA’s standards of verb usage, it seems, the act of looking down to notice that one’s shoelace is untied would be classified as “chaos”.
The irony is that this grotesquely sensationalist headline comes from the mouthpiece for the very government that’s about to stuff a muttoncloth down our throats and wrap duct tape around our heads in the form of the Protection of Information Bill.
TNA’s slogan is “One Country. One Paper.” – hopefully this is not a vision of the future from the ANC’s propaganda arm.
And by then I’d have had to RICA this blog… who will I complain to then?
Showing posts with label Protection of Information Bill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Protection of Information Bill. Show all posts
The Secrecy Bill Can Lick My Balls!
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m not convinced that illegal tenders, ministerial overspending, and where Zuma sticks his salami should be considered top secret information.
Sensitive, yes – if by ‘sensitive’ you mean embarrassing and emotional.
One can only assume that the ANC, upon noticing the steady decline in support, has decided not to get their act together but instead to stop potential voters knowing about it.
The proposed Protection of Information Bill would allow ANY government institution to deem ANY information as ‘classified’ and impose a minimum 15 year prison sentence on reporters and whistleblowers.
So if you, as a concerned government employee, happened to notice another, more important employee taking baked beans from pensioners or sticking fingers in schoolboys’ bums – and you decided to tell a journalist about it – and said journalist took a picture and wrote a story – you and said journalist could face anything from 15 to 25 years in chookie.
There is no ‘public interest’ defence, meaning that no matter how much it might rightly concern you and me – taxpayers and citizens – won’t make a difference.
They want us to believe it’s all for our own good, and as far back as 2008 they’ve been trying to trick us into eating this steaming turd. But now they’re happy to aggressively force it through our clenched teeth and down our convulsing gullets.
If you’re unclear on the meaning of this all, check out ‘The Dummies Guide to the Secrecy Bill’ here. And if it’s still unclear, read this.
And if this upsets you, please sign the Right2Know petition here.
This bill will effectively murder investigative journalism. We will never again hear about our tax Rands being raped, our ministers’ wives as druglords, or even the next extramarital presidential impregnation.
Aside from not knowing what is happening in our country, the papers will be downright boring.
Sign the petition here.
Sensitive, yes – if by ‘sensitive’ you mean embarrassing and emotional.
One can only assume that the ANC, upon noticing the steady decline in support, has decided not to get their act together but instead to stop potential voters knowing about it.
The proposed Protection of Information Bill would allow ANY government institution to deem ANY information as ‘classified’ and impose a minimum 15 year prison sentence on reporters and whistleblowers.
So if you, as a concerned government employee, happened to notice another, more important employee taking baked beans from pensioners or sticking fingers in schoolboys’ bums – and you decided to tell a journalist about it – and said journalist took a picture and wrote a story – you and said journalist could face anything from 15 to 25 years in chookie.
There is no ‘public interest’ defence, meaning that no matter how much it might rightly concern you and me – taxpayers and citizens – won’t make a difference.
They want us to believe it’s all for our own good, and as far back as 2008 they’ve been trying to trick us into eating this steaming turd. But now they’re happy to aggressively force it through our clenched teeth and down our convulsing gullets.
If you’re unclear on the meaning of this all, check out ‘The Dummies Guide to the Secrecy Bill’ here. And if it’s still unclear, read this.
And if this upsets you, please sign the Right2Know petition here.
This bill will effectively murder investigative journalism. We will never again hear about our tax Rands being raped, our ministers’ wives as druglords, or even the next extramarital presidential impregnation.
Aside from not knowing what is happening in our country, the papers will be downright boring.
Sign the petition here.
Burn Your TV Licence, It's The Sane Thing To Do
So as it turns out, paying your TV license was maybe not the right thing to do.
A judgement in the Johannesburg High Court has found the South African Broadcasting Corporation well worthy of its moniker, SANC.
“Judge CJ Claasen found the SABC had violated its licence conditions… through its blacklisting of political commentators… and in coverage of the 2005 Zimbabwe elections.” (Cape Argus – 26/01/2011)
Under the chairmanship of Snuki Zikalala the public (state?) broadcaster manipulated SABC coverage, and then covered-up this manipulation through official on-air denials.
The reality is that we don’t need protection from the press, we need protection from Party propaganda!
These revelations beg the question; do we need a public broadcaster at all?
e-tv – a free channel supported solely through advertising revenue – provides better quality international and locally-made programming and costs us nothing.
It would be understandable if, like the BBC, there were no commercials on SABC channels, but this is not the case. You can’t watch five minutes of substandard news and talk shows without being bombarded with ads for the Floor Wiz or sanitary towels.
And looking at the quality of programmes, one has to wonder into which minister’s pocket all the money goes?
For all its whinging about “unfair reporting”, the ANC has revealed itself to be the greatest threat to Truth in South Africa. One can only imagine the lies printed in the equally aligned ruling party rag, The New Age – just another ANC wolf in Free Press clothing.
This causes even greater concern over a Media Tribunal and Protection of Information Act – they not only want to chain our tongues, but pour poison into our ears as well.
In my view we should do away with a State broadcaster, and even more vehemently oppose the restrictions on free speech.
A judgement in the Johannesburg High Court has found the South African Broadcasting Corporation well worthy of its moniker, SANC.
“Judge CJ Claasen found the SABC had violated its licence conditions… through its blacklisting of political commentators… and in coverage of the 2005 Zimbabwe elections.” (Cape Argus – 26/01/2011)
Under the chairmanship of Snuki Zikalala the public (state?) broadcaster manipulated SABC coverage, and then covered-up this manipulation through official on-air denials.
The reality is that we don’t need protection from the press, we need protection from Party propaganda!
These revelations beg the question; do we need a public broadcaster at all?
e-tv – a free channel supported solely through advertising revenue – provides better quality international and locally-made programming and costs us nothing.
It would be understandable if, like the BBC, there were no commercials on SABC channels, but this is not the case. You can’t watch five minutes of substandard news and talk shows without being bombarded with ads for the Floor Wiz or sanitary towels.
And looking at the quality of programmes, one has to wonder into which minister’s pocket all the money goes?
For all its whinging about “unfair reporting”, the ANC has revealed itself to be the greatest threat to Truth in South Africa. One can only imagine the lies printed in the equally aligned ruling party rag, The New Age – just another ANC wolf in Free Press clothing.
This causes even greater concern over a Media Tribunal and Protection of Information Act – they not only want to chain our tongues, but pour poison into our ears as well.
In my view we should do away with a State broadcaster, and even more vehemently oppose the restrictions on free speech.
Our Fragile Democracy
Is South Africa a democracy? Or are we merely playing at one?
At the moment we have a Constitution and the right to vote; we have freedom of movement, expression and association. The terror that was apartheid is a long-dead animal with no chance of resurrection… at least not in its old form.
I’m not sure if most in this country realise how fragile our freedoms are today. It is very easy for the ANC to tolerate an inconvenience such as voting when the margin between victory and loss is so wide.
We have already witnessed how ungracious they are in defeat.
In 2009, when the Democratic Alliance won the honour of governing the Western Cape, the MK veterans’ association threatened to make the province ungovernable, even though this victory was not through floor-crossing or any other kind of bureaucratic interference, and on Sunday Julius Malema, president of the ANCYL, told us in his inimitable vitriolic and nonsensical fashion that someone who “looked like” Helen Zille would never “rule” the Western Cape.
A telling remark that exposes the youth leader’s ideas about his position not being one of public service but “rule”.
Every day new incidents of corruption, mismanagement and unnecessary spending come to light through the hard and often dangerous work of investigative reporting across South Africa. This “negative” and “unpatriotic” reporting has caused such embarrassment to the alleged “leaders” that journalists suffer threats, are offered bribes and investigated by our National Intelligence Agency.
This “forced transparency” is so undesirable to our rulers that they will do anything to cover it up.
The proposed Protection of Information bill cannot be allowed to become a reality. The weak argument for the protection of “state secrets” is utter nonsense – we are not at war or under threat of invasion; our war is a war against tyranny; our greatest threat is incompetence and greed.
This bill will be nothing more than the legal gagging of journalists who are our first defence and our last hope against power-hungry politicians.
“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” – Is this what they would have us believe?
At the moment we have a Constitution and the right to vote; we have freedom of movement, expression and association. The terror that was apartheid is a long-dead animal with no chance of resurrection… at least not in its old form.
I’m not sure if most in this country realise how fragile our freedoms are today. It is very easy for the ANC to tolerate an inconvenience such as voting when the margin between victory and loss is so wide.
We have already witnessed how ungracious they are in defeat.
In 2009, when the Democratic Alliance won the honour of governing the Western Cape, the MK veterans’ association threatened to make the province ungovernable, even though this victory was not through floor-crossing or any other kind of bureaucratic interference, and on Sunday Julius Malema, president of the ANCYL, told us in his inimitable vitriolic and nonsensical fashion that someone who “looked like” Helen Zille would never “rule” the Western Cape.
A telling remark that exposes the youth leader’s ideas about his position not being one of public service but “rule”.
Every day new incidents of corruption, mismanagement and unnecessary spending come to light through the hard and often dangerous work of investigative reporting across South Africa. This “negative” and “unpatriotic” reporting has caused such embarrassment to the alleged “leaders” that journalists suffer threats, are offered bribes and investigated by our National Intelligence Agency.
This “forced transparency” is so undesirable to our rulers that they will do anything to cover it up.
The proposed Protection of Information bill cannot be allowed to become a reality. The weak argument for the protection of “state secrets” is utter nonsense – we are not at war or under threat of invasion; our war is a war against tyranny; our greatest threat is incompetence and greed.
This bill will be nothing more than the legal gagging of journalists who are our first defence and our last hope against power-hungry politicians.
“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” – Is this what they would have us believe?
Set the Truth Free!
Their lies are the thread that will sew our eyes shut, and the world we see will be nothing but the stitches.
Maybe we deserve it, because only the few seem to care. No one I speak to in my normal, everyday existence seems to be concerned about the authorities, our elected protectors, desperately doing everything in their power to stop us knowing what is going on.
Are we so caught up in our selfish pursuits that we no longer take notice of the bigger picture? Is our vision of the future so narrowly self-absorbed that we cannot see how this will affect us? Have we been tricked into thinking that voting once in a while makes us politically active?
We are victims of a lifestyle obsession. And our only driving concern is improving our lot. Corruption, poverty, injustice – these things don’t concern us anymore. Discussing improper tenders and political self-enrichment has become as trite and boring as talking about the weather!
It is so prevalent and so sickening we have all turned away.
We thought the war was won, and were so enthralled in victorious euphoria we did not notice a new battle unfold. But now it is upon us and we have become so fat and lazy and gutless we have chosen to ignore it; leaving it to others to fight for us.
But the truth does not set us free; it only empowers us to free ourselves.
The ANC wants to take this power away. They are terrified that one day we will wake up and fight back.
That time is now!
Their illogical arguments to convince us that it is in our best interests are verbal defecation. Their rotten, paper thin lies turn any sane citizen’s stomach.
Our minds are not theirs to control. We will not be told what we are allowed to know.
This war must be fought by all. The time has come for us to set the truth free.
Maybe we deserve it, because only the few seem to care. No one I speak to in my normal, everyday existence seems to be concerned about the authorities, our elected protectors, desperately doing everything in their power to stop us knowing what is going on.
Are we so caught up in our selfish pursuits that we no longer take notice of the bigger picture? Is our vision of the future so narrowly self-absorbed that we cannot see how this will affect us? Have we been tricked into thinking that voting once in a while makes us politically active?
We are victims of a lifestyle obsession. And our only driving concern is improving our lot. Corruption, poverty, injustice – these things don’t concern us anymore. Discussing improper tenders and political self-enrichment has become as trite and boring as talking about the weather!
It is so prevalent and so sickening we have all turned away.
We thought the war was won, and were so enthralled in victorious euphoria we did not notice a new battle unfold. But now it is upon us and we have become so fat and lazy and gutless we have chosen to ignore it; leaving it to others to fight for us.
But the truth does not set us free; it only empowers us to free ourselves.
The ANC wants to take this power away. They are terrified that one day we will wake up and fight back.
That time is now!
Their illogical arguments to convince us that it is in our best interests are verbal defecation. Their rotten, paper thin lies turn any sane citizen’s stomach.
Our minds are not theirs to control. We will not be told what we are allowed to know.
This war must be fought by all. The time has come for us to set the truth free.
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